Guitar Technique Booster For Lead Guitar

Learn the Picking Techniques and Strategies of the Pros. Boost your Lead Guitar Skills. For Blues, Rock, Metal & beyond

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About This Course

Published 8/2014
English

Course Description

INJECT A DOSE OF AWESOMENESS INTO YOUR GUITAR SOLOS

Give your guitar technique a shot in the arm and become a killer lead guitarist. This course is going to show you the essential picking techniques that will sharpen your skills, reveal some closely guarded trade secrets and help you play better guitar solos.

Over 600 students have already enrolled in this course!

In this course I'll show the techniques, strategies and little tricks that have helped me to take my guitar playing from 'just about OK' to expert level. From the basics like 'Alternate Picking' and a super-cool way of spicing up your leads with odd-note-groupings to concepts such as 'Octave Shifting' and 'Tetrachords' - everything is explained in easy-to-follow videos and supported by TAB (and standard notation).

Here is what you will discover:

Alternate picking – the fundamental technique that all others build upon. Includes licks and picking patterns in the style of Paul Gilbert, Yngwie Malmsteen and others like them.

Inside picking – this closely-guarded technique that can turn a difficult alternate picking lick into an easy-to play one.

Economy picking – this approach will let you play with 30% less effort. Once you understand it you will be able to play faster and with less effort.

Pick 'N' Mix technique – in this section we look at a technique that makes it a breeze to play high-speed runs at a fast tempo.

What the media is saying: “Topics such as Economy Picking, String Skipping and Speedbursts are always explained on the basis of simple exercises and are put into action with licks from masters such as Paul Gilbert or Steve Morse. 4.5 out of 5 stars" Jurgen Ehness - guitar magazine - Germany

This course consists of over 40 video modules so you can see each technique in action. Also included are the TABs (and standard notation) for all of the 50+ licks and exercises as downloadable PDFs.

And one very important point.

You have a totally unconditional guarantee from Udemy. Study the course. Test the waters. If you are in any way unhappy (I can't imagine, why, but nevertheless!) you will get a full 100%, absolutely no conditions attached, refund. Cheerfully. You have a full 30 days to study and see the results and potential.

That's our personal assurance of your success!

Join over 600 students - enrol today and start kicking your lead guitar technique into overdrive!

“Chris Basener is a killer player with creative songs, cool phrasing, high-calibre chops and simply good taste in writing and playing." (Tom Hess - Rhapsody Of Fire)

What are the requirements?

A guitar (obviously) - although this course focuses on electric guitar, the techniques and concepts also apply to acoustic guitar

Intermediate guitar skills

The time and dedication to practice (sorry, there's no short-cut here)

What am I going to get from this course?

90 minutes of High Quality Guitar Instruction

Over 50 Licks & Exercises

Downloadable PDFs with TAB and standard notation

By the end of this course, you ou will have a solid understanding of the most essential picking techniques for lead guitar.

You will also be familiar with concepts such as Octave Shifting, Horizontal Playing, Modal Arpeggios and Tetrachords

What is the target audience?

Perfect for the advancing lead guitarist

If you've only just started playing guitar, this course is not yet for you

What you get with this course?

Not for you? No problem.30 day money back guarantee.

Forever yours.Lifetime access.

Learn on the go.Desktop, iOS and Android.

Get rewarded.Certificate of completion.

Curriculum

Once you've worked through this course, you'll have a very good understanding of the various picking techniques that you can use in your guitar solos, you'll also have a ton of lick under your belt that you can use in your own playing straight away.

Here is a list of the top 5 things to look out for when developing your alternate picking technique:

How to hold you pick: Hold the pick on the side of your index finger and secure it with your thumb. Cup your hand as if holding an imaginary egg. Place the plectrum on the side of the first joint (or distal phalnax as the doctors say) of your index finger and place your thumb on top. Don’t tense up. Check out Paul Gilbert’s video for a more detailed explanation.

How to angle your pick: Hit the string in a steady and relaxed manner. Try hitting the string at an angel of 30 to 45 degrees. This allows for less string resistance and a warmer tone.

How to move: When playing on a single string, the picking movement should come from the wrist and not from your elbow or the thumb and index finger. Observe yourself in a mirror – or video record yourself if you’re a more gadgety type of person.

How to attack the string: Only attack the string with the tip of the pick, especially when playing fast single note licks. Using more surface area of the pick is OK for acoustic guitar strumming but for lead lines you should only use the tip of the plectrum.

How to sound good: Use a clean tone with no delay or excessive reverb to start with. Aim for a nice and full tone. Any effects will mask mistakes and make it more difficult later on. Once you start using overdriven and distorted sounds, make sure you mute any unwanted strings with the palm of your picking hand, your remaining fingers of your picking hand (i.e. the ones that don’t hold the plectrum) and your fretting hand. What you are looking for is a ‘clean’ distorted tone.

Here's a straight forward backing track that you can use to apply the various licks, patterns and techniques to.

Download the Audio File and the Lead Sheet below

The track consists of three parts - A, B and C - each with a different tonal center and a slightly different feel.

Section A:This section is in A minor and alternates between two bars of A5 and two bars of F5 (the 5 means they are power-chords). You can use the following licks over it:

any of the patterns from the alternate picking section

Lick 2

Lick 3

Lick 6

Lick 10

All of the Octave Shifting ideas

TetraChord 1 & 2

Section B:This is a chromatically descending section centering around the D minor tonality.

The following licks can work well over it:

Lick 7 - transposed to the 10th position

Lick 11 - transposed to the 10th position

Lick 12 - transposed to the 10th position

Lick 13 - transposed to the 10th position

Lick 14 - transposed to the 10th position

Lick 18 - transposed to the 10th position

Lick 19 - transposed to the 10 position

Section C:This is centered around E Phrygian Dominant tonality (the 5th mode of A harmonic minor)

The following lick could be used:

Phrygian Dominant Arpeggio

Any lick from section A as along as you change any G to a G#

This track is quite quick (at 145 bpm) so it can be quite challenging to play quintuplets and sextuplets. I suggest to play these licks at half the speed (e.g. triplets) or change them to 16th note licks (which can give a nice syncopated effect)

Practice Suggestions:Have a look at the lead sheet and maybe mark out where you'd want to play a certain lick (after trying them all). In between these 'milestone' licks you could improvise to your heart's content.

Or map out the licks above and try to connect them all as seamlessly as possible.

Alternatively, make up your own licks and just jam. I would suggest to write down any cool licks that you come up with, so it's a more productive jam / practice session.

Have fun and stay awesome

Chris

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Instructor Biography

I am a graduate of the Munich Guitar Institute (MGI) in Germany where I studied with French Jazz/Fusion Maestro Phillippe Caillat and Mario Neunkirchen, Author of the Fusion Guitar Workbook (Voggenreiter Verlag).

As a product specialist and demonstrator for the US music instrument company Line 6, I have done many clinics and demos at trade shows and fairs across Europe (Germany, Austria, France, Belgium and the UK) performing to thousands of people.

I also teach guitar students in my private guitar studio and via online lessons.

After over a decade of working in the music industry, performing, presenting, demonstrating and teaching I have a lot of information to share with you.

I have also released an instructional book on alternate picking called ‘The Essential Guide to Alternate Picking’.

In addition I have released several articles on guitar gear and playing techniques.